LA's $890M Railcar Contract Award Meets Buy America Regs

Law360, New York (May 24, 2012, 6:54 PM EDT) -- The Federal Transit Authority on Tuesday told the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that its $890 million contract with a Japanese firm for the manufacture of up to 235 light-railcars met Buy America requirements, over the objections of labor and economic advisory groups.

A letter from FTA chief counsel Dorval R. Carter Jr. to LACMTA's attorney G. Kent Woodman of Thompson Coburn LLP said that the FTA had rejected opposition from two other companies that made unsuccessful bids for the contract, which provides funding for...